Barge for ferrying a trailer

ABSTRACT

The deck of a barge has a rearwardly open depression of rectangular shape which forms a berth for a house trailer to be transported over a body of water. The rear of the barge has a pair of symmetrically positioned aprons, flush with the bottom of the depression, which overhang a wharf during docking and come to rest on a rabbeted portion of the wharf upon a shift in weight so as to form ramps for the wheels of the trailer entering or leaving the barge. The shift in weight is brought about by crossconnected water ballasts at the four corners of the barge.

United States Patent 11 1 Louet July 17, 1973 [54] BARGE FOR FERRYING A TRAILER 1,541,989 6/1925 Miller 114/60 2,669,210 2/l954 Bernhard 114/05 R [76] Inventor: Mane August Jacques 3,265,025 8/1966 l-laigh et al. 114/60 19 rue Charles Chenu, 92 Puteaux, France Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler' [22] Filed; Apt 21, 197 Assistant Examiner-S. D. Basinger Att n K 1 F. Ros 211 App]. No.: 136,148 ey at S [57] ABSTRACT Foreign Application Priority Data The deck of a barge has a rearwardly open depression Apr. 23, 1970 France 7014808 of rectangular shape which forms a berth for a house Apr. 14, 1971 France 7] 13146 trailer to be transported over a body of water. The rear of the barge has a pair of symmetrically positioned [52] US. Cl. 114/.5 aprons, flush with the bottom of the depression, which [51] Int. Cl. B631) 35/00 overhang a wharf during docking and come to rest on [58] Field of Search 114/05, 60, 70, a rabbeted portion of the wharf upon a shift in weight 114/43.5,45, 230, 231, 125 so as to form ramps for the wheels of the trailer enter- 1 ing or leaving the barge. The shift in weight is brought [56] References Cited about by cross-connected water ballasts at the four cor- UNITED STATES PATENTS Hers of the bargel,O00,l52 8/1911 Correll 114/125 UX 5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures SIIHINS INVENTOR:

Jean LOUET (Ra Tm;

At tornev PATENIEIJMI m;

sum am 5 INVENTOR:

Jean LOUET v BY marl g. T

Attorney PAIENIEBJIUTW Y 3.145.954.

fsnmuurs BY Jean 140% s Ga Attorney Pmuununm 3.145.954

INVENTOR:

Jean LOUET BY v s 19- Attorney BARGE FOR FERRYING A TRAILER The present invention relates to a barge. for ferrying a trailer, particularly a house-trailer.

The use of house-trailers is spreading more and more in the field of tourism.

Up to now, however, the trailer is dependent upon the existence of a roadway. The object of our invention is to provide means enabling trailer transportation on lakes and rivers.

The barge according to the invention solves the problems of trailer embarkation and disembarkation, being provided for this purpose with an overhanging formation adapted to come to rest on a disembarkation or embarkation wharf and with shiftable ballast means adapted to adjust the posture attitude of the barge for loading an unloading.

The following description, given by way of example, refers to the accompanying drawing wherein FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a barge according to the invention FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the barge FIG. 9 shows the barge alongside the wharf FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the back of the barge showing a step of the barge separating from the wharf FIG. 11 shows the barge moving away from the wharf.

The barge according to the invention is a hollow body having a generally prismatic shape defined by a flatbottom 11, external side walls 12 and 13, and an upper dock '14 provided in the central section thereof with a sunken floor 15 latter being bounded by the side faces 16 and 16, by and a front face 18 delimiting a rectangular berth which is open toward the rear.

The interior of the barge is advantageously lined with a foamed material having a very low density, used in such a quantity that the barge is made unsinkable.

Water ballasts are provided in the hollow body, for

instance at the four corners, i.e. at 19 and 20 (front) and at 21 and 22 (rear).

The water tank of fore ballast 19 is connected to that of an oft ballast, here the diagonally opposite ballast 22, by means of a conduit 23 dipping down to the bottom of the ballasts and containing a control valve or gate 24. At the top of the ballasts terminate respective pipes 25 and 26 originating at respective distributors, 27 and 28, which communicate via a conduit 30, controlled by valve 29, with a low pressure air reservoir 31; the latter is connected to a bottle 34, provided with a manual relief valve 35, by way of a pipe 32 having a stopcock 33.

A cam 36, preferably fixed on the same shaft as the gate 24 and movable by a handle 37, operates the distributor 27 or 28 which, in a first composition, can be vented to the atmopshere through exhaust pipes 38 and 39 by the action of the respective low dwell 40 or 41 and, in a second cam position, can be connected to supply conduit 30 by the action of the a respective high dwell42 or 43 foradmitting compressed air into the ballast 19 or 22, depending on the direction of swing of handle 37. Since gate 24 is open in the operative position of dwell 42 or 43, the air pressure created in the tank of ballast l9 displaces some of its water content through conduit 23 into the tank of ballast 22 or vice versa.

A similar arrangement is provided for shifting the weight between the ballasts 20 and 21.

The back of the barge comprises supporting and/or mooring means formed by aprons 51 and 52 flanking a notch 53 and protruding beyond the back walls 54 and 55 of the barge. The flat undersides of these aprons constitute slating surfaces 56 and 57.

To lead a trailer onto the barge, the latter is brought near to a wharf Q which may have a rabbit d; the tilt of the barge shown in FIG. 7 is due to the fact that the fore ballasts l9 and 20 are loaded and the other ballasts 21 and 22 are at least partly unloaded.

At the end of the docking stage (FIG. 8) the seating surfaces 56. 57 overhangs the rab bet of the wharf. By operating the handles 37 the aft ballasts are loaded by the transfer of water from the fore ballasts, and the seating surface a gradually comes down upon the wharf until contacting the latter the weight of the barge partially resting on the wharf contributes to the fixation of the barge in a suitable position by means of ropes or cables c wound about capstans as shown in FIG. 9.

In this condition the floor 15 is exactly level with the wharf, so that a trailer T (FIGS. 2-5) need only be pushed onto the barge to occupy the berth formed by the sunken floor 15. i

The trailer is advanced until its wheels R are practically in line with the median transverse plane of the barge and may then be anchored in position within its berth.

By a reverse swing of handles 37 water is driven from the aft ballasts 21, 22 and forced into the fore ballasts 19, 20. The back of the barge so lightened is thereby lifted and the barge assumes the position condition shown in FIG. 10, with its seating surfaces 56, 57 again clear of the wharf, so that it is very easy to separate the barge from the wharf, as shown in FIG. 11.

A board may be placed in the recess 53 and can be used as an anchorage for an outboard-motorboat serving for the propulsion of the barge carrying the trailer.

At best seen in FIG. 3, the recess 53 is substantially narrower than the rectangular depression bounded by edges 16 18 whereby parts of aprons 51 and 52, which are flush with the top of wharf Q (see FIG. 9) during docking, form tracks for the trailer wheels R on the level of floor 15. a

I claim:

1. A barge for the ferrying of a wheeled trailer, cornprising a floating body with a deck forming a trailer berth open to one end of said body, the latter being provided at said one end with an outwardly projecting formation having a flat underside, and adjustable ballast means for tilting said body to elevate said one end with reference to the opposite end for letting said underside overhang an upper surface of a wharf, accessible to said berth, during docking and for thereupon reversing the attitude of said body whereby said formation is firmly seated on said surface.

means operable to shift water between said fore and aft tanks. i

5. A barge as defined in claim 4 wherein said tanks include two fore tanks and two aft tanks disposed in a substantially rectangular array, said fore and aft tanks being diagonally cross-connected for the transfer of water therebetween. 

1. A barge for the ferrying of a wheeled trailer, comprising a floating body with a deck forming a trailer berth open to one end of said body, the latter being provided at said one end with an outwardly projecting formation having a flat underside, and adjustable ballast means for tilting said body to elevate said one end with reference to the opposite end for letting said underside overhang an upper surface of a wharf, accessible to said berth, during docking and for thereupon reversing the attitude of said body whereby said formation is firmly seated on said surface.
 2. A barge as defined in claim 1 wherein said formation has a topside level with the floor of said berth to form a track for the wheels of said trailer.
 3. A barge as defined in claim 2 wherein said formation comprises a pair of aprons separated by a rearwardly facing recess.
 4. A barge as defined in claim 1 wherein said adjustable ballast means comprises a plurality of water tanks disposed fore and aft on said body and fluid-pressure means operable to sHift water between said fore and aft tanks.
 5. A barge as defined in claim 4 wherein said tanks include two fore tanks and two aft tanks disposed in a substantially rectangular array, said fore and aft tanks being diagonally cross-connected for the transfer of water therebetween. 